Abstract
Purpose :
Because double eyelid surgery is often an aesthetic surgery for cosmetic purposes, patient outcomes rely heavily on qualitative measurements of satisfaction. It is important to characterize individual factors that shape patient perspectives about double eyelid surgery, as cosmetic satisfaction may translate to improved body image and self-esteem.
Methods :
All reviews under the category “double eyelid surgery” on RealSelf.com were collected using an automated web crawler. Reviews were then characterized as overall positive or overall negative and given a primary categorization that defined the theme of the review and a secondary categorization if there was additional secondary reasoning for being positive or negative. The number of stars for rating different categories on a scale of 1 to 5 was also gathered.
Results :
A total of 549 double eyelid surgery reviews were collected. Of the 549 total reviews, 456 (83%) were positive and 93 (17%) were negative. Among the positive reviews, the most frequently cited primary reasons were bedside manner (n=226, 50%) and aesthetic result (n=195, 43%). Among the negative reviews, the most frequently cited primary reasons were aesthetic result (n=67, 72%) and bedside manner (n=18, 19%) (Table 1). Overall, most patients (n=403, 84.3%) gave the highest overall rating of 5 stars for their doctor. The most cited reasons for a 5 out of 5 rating were “staff professionalism and courtesy” (n=220), “answered my questions” (n=216), and after care follow-up (n=210). The most frequently cited reasons for the poorest rating of 1 out of 5 were “after care follow-up” (n=21), “time spent with me” (n=21), and “doctor’s bedside manner” (n=19) (Table 2).
Conclusions :
Patient satisfaction is a significant aspect of perceived success and encompasses many components like preoperative encounters, surgery experience, and the postoperative recovery course. In this study, the majority of reviews were positive most commonly due to bedside manner and aesthetic result. Negative reviews were most frequently due to aesthetic results. Our findings emphasize the importance of the multifaceted components of the clinical encounter both inside and outside the operating room. Although operative performance and final appearance are always important, preoperative and postoperative management can play a huge role in overall patient satisfaction.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.